Many of the highlights of the season (some of them previously announced) are part of the six-week festival that will open the $200 million hall in September and October 2006. These include the world premiere of a new song cycle by William Bolcom, sung by tenor Plšcido Domingo; the world premiere of Philip Glass's choral work The Passion of Ramakrishna; a guest appearance by violinist Midori; and a joint performance with Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra. (The Kirov will also be performing its Ring cycle as part of the opening celebration.)

Other highlights include the world premiere of a new orchestration of Richard Danielpour's A Child's Reliquary, with violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson; a festival of Mexican and Mexican-American music, including a new work by Daniel Catšn; and, in spring 2007, a festival of contemporary music featuring works by Steve Reich, Toru Takemitsu, and Tan Dun.

Guest conductors on the schedule include outgoing Dallas Symphony music director Andrew Litton, Douglas Boyd, and Eri Klas. Among the soloists are violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, pianist Shai Wosner, and violinist Cho-Liang Lin.

The orchestra also announced that as it moves from its current 3,000-seat auditorium to the 2,000-seat Segerstrom Concert Hall, it would expand its schedule, increasing the number of programs from 10 to 12 and the number of performances of each program from two to three.